Posted on 08/15/2007 7:08:15 PM PDT by shrinkermd
“Does the fact that you live on a farm help with the food budget?”
Very much so. We have a 1/4 acre organic garden, can keep laying hens and have an orchard for apples, peaches, pears and plums. Hunting, fishing, gleaning also helps, as does not tolerating “picky eaters.” The trick is to keep your kids so busy and worn out with chores all day that they’ll eat anything, LOL!
However...five of those years we lived in a suburban setting on 1/4 acre total. I did as much as I could there, but having the farm certainly helps.
And I have little background in farming. I grew up in inner-city Milwaukee, then spent 20 years roaming around with the Army. I married late and gained a husband and three boys and a needy brother-in-law in the bargain. It just takes a plan and educating yourself through the library, getting to know other ag-types or your County Agent.
If I can do it, anyone can. I can recommend a number of great books on the subject if anyone wants them.
That is a terrific recipe, JDB! You forgot the last step, though.
*Give 1/2 loaf to husband to eat immediately, warm out of the oven.
LOL! :)
Everyone in Congress is oblivious to this fact.
Geeze. Bitter about the price of eggs, are we? LOL!
Yes. I really CAN get them for 39 cents a dozen. My local grocer puts them on sale a number of times a year at that price, and that’s the only time I buy them. Check the prices in your local stores around Easter-time. They use cheap eggs (for dying with the kids) as “Loss Leaders” to get you in the door to buy all the other stuff you need for Easter Dinner. At other times, if you buy Bacon and OJ, they’ll give you a carton of eggs for FREE.
I raise laying hens for egg sales. I KNOW egg prices, believe me. And if the Yuppies in my area want to pay $4.50 a dozen (retail) for my boutique eggs, more power to Little Old Farmgal Capitalist ME! :) They are beautiful eggs. Cage-free, Free-ranged, organically-fed (though not certified) from Happy Hens. I sell them in clear cartons. The eggs are brown, pink, cream, green, blush, etc. from Araucana hens, which are originally from South America. Martha Stewart raises them, and designed a whole pallet of paint colors around them.
They are irresistible to ‘Foodies.’ :)
But you are correct. Prices do vary by region:
http://www.ams.usda.gov/poultry/mncs/SHELL.HTM
And, you’re getting ripped off by your grocer if you’re paying through the nose for everyday, white, farm factory produced eggs. Midwest egg prices (which should include ChicagoLand) are running about 92-cents per dozen right now:
http://www.ams.usda.gov/mnreports/nw_py018.txt
Don’t forget to butter that warm bread! Speaking of which ... do you make your own butter? That is my next attempt, after the canning and freezing season is over here pretty soon.
During the Depression, food was expensive and housing was cheap. We may be headed back that way...
If Mrs Mag won’t give it a try, I’ll ask my younger daughter. She’s learning to cook and bake and is usually up for a new recipe. I’m not much of a baker unless it involves mixes.
WOW ! Really ? Care to share how ?
HOw do you store them ? How long does a carton of eggs last in the refrigerator ? Or do you freeze them ?
We purchase bagged oranges and use a hand operated citrus juicer. I bought ours, which has a lever handle and is stainless steel, at Overstock.com for $25, regularly $79.If money is really a problem, there are cheaper plastic hand held citrus juicers out there, too.
Right now, we are drying tomatoes by the dozens. Takes up almost no room, unlike canned/frozen sauce and they take so long to dry, I can set up the dehydrator in the morning, go to work and not even worry about it until that evening.
When you buy liquid juice, you have no idea where the concentrate originated. Sometimes I do buy no-concentrate liquid juice, but I am spoiled by fresh squeezed.
While munching on a cotton boll is not very tasty, most folks indirectly consume cotton. We sell cotton seed to ranchers as a feed for cattle, and then there is the cottonseed oil using in processing foods. In really dry years I have seen deer and squirrels chew on immature bolls to extract the moisture and then, when hunting season comes around, we harvest the deer. So cotton does contribute to our diet. ;-)
A couple weeks ago all prices for grain-based foods went up at the local supermarket. Way up. 20%
Shoppers were looking kind of confused. One lady grabbed her favorite bread without looking at the price—4$
If you freeze hard-boiled eggs, when they thaw they will be liquified again.
How do you prepare the tomatoes for the dehydrator? I normally can or freeze mine, but it's way too hot for canning today and I need to defrost my freezer this weekend. I've been having an issue with the door being left slightly ajar of occassion and really don't want to put anything else in until after I defrost it.
However, I have 20 pounds of tomatoes I need to do something with, and quickly. Any tips you could offer would be greatly appreciated.
I bet he hasn't had to eliminate 9.00/lb steak from his menu due to a lack of funds.
Your tag line says it all!
You have that right! In retrospect I wish GW had resigned after serving a month in office, Cheney would have been a lot better IMO.
America may be going hells bells on the economy now but who knows when some rogue nation is going to turn the world upside down and drag America down.
The globalists have slowly set us all up to feel the pain of those around the world.
Anyone poo pooing these rises in costs are living in an alternate reality, or have more mney than they know what to do with it.
My 1040 claims our family income is above the poverty level, but with the increase in so many necessities of the past year, that figure means absolutely nothing.
Yes, I can go without alcohol or tobacco, or TV, or a host of other things. I can buy clothes at the thrift stores, watch for the day old bread, or last day expiration sales on meats (all things I already do)...........but I still have to put gas in my car, have electricity, and fuel for heat. I have to pay my mortgage, my property taxes, car payment, etc., etc.
The elitists have absolutely no clue what the average person expends each and every month.
I have a little side business an a part time job, neither pays a lot, but it puts gas in my car, pays for our daughter’s extracurricula activities, and because I’m working extra hours covering for others both this week and next, will cover the rest of her back to school supplies, including the all important must have new outfit for the first day of school.
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